1952 Theatre Catalog, 10th Edition, Page 52 (18)

1952 Theatre Catalog, 10th Edition, Page 52

by 20th Century-Fox Import Corporation,
the Amir was designed to have multiple
appeals, and the fact that Alexandria
has somewhat oriental aspects coupled
with the various influences of a large
European population, plus the fact that the city is the summer headquarters for
the Egyptian government, Were prime
considerations in its planning.

It cannot be truly said that Egypt
prefers its historical architectural modes
over contemporary Continental or
American design, but there is nonetheless an oriental feeling for luxury in
architecture and decoration, as reflected
in most of the big theatres of the
country, and as achieved at the Amir.

The reserved-seat policy of all theatres operating in the Near East, together
with the multi-lingual situation in Egypt,
have had a marked bearing upon the
design of the Amirls splendid facade.
Two boxoffices, one on each side of the
entrance were included to handle advance
booking and current ticket sales.

Since it is required by law that any
foreign language used in advertising
be duplicated in Arabic of comparable
size and elevation, the name of the
theatre is spelled out in two signs,
identical except for the difference in
language, and which provide a striking
effect. The forms of letter display common to the United States meet with
unfavorable criticism in Egypt, and in
the few instances where overly brilliant,
garish lighting effects have been tried,
the results were invariably poor. Great
masses of light, unless subdued and
ffprettyfl are considered offensive to
Egyptian taste, and this has been taken
into account in planning the lighting
display of the Amir. Changeable Arabic
plastic letters over the marquee give a
lacy cresting to the simple canopy, and
similar European plastic letters are installed at each change of the show over
the display frames and boxofiices. All
changeable letters are back-lighted by
neon tubing. The facade is faced with a
base of German granite of a reddish
brown tint, side units of richly figured
Belgian marble, and a center unit of
Italian artificial stone. Four pairs of
tempered glass doors, over which concealed neon tubing lights a plain expanse
of blue glass mosaic tile, constitute the
entrance. The marquee soffit is lighted
by coves and downlights, creating ample
light at the entrance without being too
obvious or producing any glare. The
marble facade between the signature
signs is floodlighted from the roof of the marquee by multiple rows of neon
reflectors, which also serve to illuminate
a 24*sheet placed over the marquee to
advertise the current attraction, in deference to the fact that in the multi-lingual
city of Alexandria pictures form a
universal language.

After passing through the glass entrance doors, the patron necd not pass
through any other doors to reach his
seat, for access to the auditorium and the grand staircaSe which opens on the
rear of a two-row loge section in the
balcony is by means of curtained light
locks. The coloring of the walls and the
lighting of various portions of the building contribute to the effectiveness of the continuous, forward means of access.

ALSO IN EGYPT. the Metro, Alexandria, is a
modern theatre complete with Adler letters and
frames amplified by Egyptian characters.

Mirrors, water gardens, elaborate plaster scrollwork in the arched ceiling, and
rich inlaid marble floors contribute to
the rich appearanCe of the lobby and
foyer. Four lounges, all lavishly appointed, have been provided, and four
groups of public toilet rooms were installed. The main lounge is designed
as a swank cafe, complete with cocktail
bar, tables, and booths. The usual complement of offices, lounges and toilets
for the staff, kitchens, bar services and
storage rooms have been provide for,
and special entrances for the office,
service, and personnel have been arranged. There are also candy and soft
drink bars in the lobby.

The auditorium, having 612 seats in
the orchestra, 578 seats in the balcony
and 62 seats in the loge section, shows
the oriental love of luxury in its ornate
decorative treatment and an appreciation of modern standards of comfort
in its furnishings. Each seat has double
arm rests, and rows are spaced 431/2
inches back to back in the loge and 39
inches back to back elsewhere. The walls

Acknowledgments

The Editors of THEATRE CATALOG are deeply appreciative of the
efforts of Mrs. Rose Ekerman, National
Theatre Supply distributor in Brazil,
in the preparation of the section of
this survey relating to Brazil. Much of the data on the current status of the
theatre industry in Brazil and most of the photographs of theatres in that
country were generously supplier] by
Mrs. Ekerman.

Acknowledgment is also mode of the

valuable assistance and cooperation of
E. H. McFarland, 20H; Century-Fox
Corporation, in the preparation of the
section on Egypt.

The Editors also express thanks to
the Adler Silhouette Leuer Company,

Kroehler Manufacturing Company,
Radio Corporation of America International Division, National Theatre
Supply Export, and W'eslrex Corporation. for their generous contributions

of factual data and photographs for
the survey.

have been paneled with blocked leatherette, which provides a quiet contrast
with the elaborate plaster coves which
run vertically across the ceiling from
rear wall to proscenium.

No detail has been Spared to bring
the new Amir into the ranks of the
worlds best theatres and it refiects
credit upon the Egyptian industry as
well as upon its architects, E. H. McFarland, of 20th Century-Fox Export
Corporation, in association with the New
York firm of John and Drew Eberson.

The Amir is equipped with Simplex
sound and projection systems, Peerless
Magnarc lamps, and Hertner transverters.

ASIA

Seriously beset by political and economic problems, the countries of Asia
have had little opportunity to encourage
the development of their theatre industries, but some progress has been
reported in the past year.

India

In India, several outdoor theatres have
been built, there has been some remodeling of outmoded indoor theatres, and a
new theatre, the Motilal Talkies, was
erected in Mysore. Seating 600, the
Motilal Talkies is located in the center
of Mysore, capital of Mysore State, in
southern India. Construction began in
December, 1950, and was completed in
August, 1951. Equipped with Simplex
projection and sound, it is now the
finest theatre in the city.

French lndo-Chinu

Another new theatre, the Olympic,
was recently opened in Saigon, French
Indo-China. Main features of the Olympic, which seats about 500, are its
reserved-seat enclosures-boxes on both
sides of the entrance at the rear of the
auditorium-and the interesting effect
which has been achieved with decorative
gridwork over conventional square lighting fixtures which have been recessed
in the auditorium ceiling to form a
symmetrical pattern. The familiar five
interlocking circles of the Olympics is the only decorative motif, and the symbol is used repeatedly throughout the
house and on the facade. The Olympic
is equipped with 35mm. and 16mm.
sound and projection equipment of
Italian manufacture.

AUSTRALIA

Australia currently has 1,650 motion
picture theatres, the quality of which
has been maintained at an exceptionally
high level, generally speaking. While
there are undeniably many sub-standard
houses throughout the country, quality
abounds in the metropolitan centers and the suburbs in scores of theatres which
are as advanced as any in the world.

Although there has been no theatre
construction in the country for the past
13 years, because of a government ban
on amusement construction due to a
shortage of building materials, the
standards of the management, maintenance, projection and sound reproduction
range from good tocexcellent throughout most of the industry. It is expected
that the ban will be removed this year.